I cannot believe it has been a year since I typed up my post reflecting on turning twenty five and finalising some goals I wanted to achieve for the year ahead. Looking at that list, it doesn't look like I managed to tick many off. However, my year has achieved so much more.

It started off as the worst year of my life with personal family dramas resulting in relationship breakdowns and many, many tears.

It's now 30th December 2018 and I can honestly say this has been the best year of my life. You can click through any pink highlight below to catch up if you missed any posts!

• My relationship break downs made me learn to leave things in the past and not to dwell on them. People change, situations arise and people grow apart. It's a part of change and I now welcome it
• Afternoon tea in Cinderella's carriage with my sister
• First glamping experience in a yurt with my boyfriend and Elsie
• Finally went pumpkin picking at a pumpkin patch with Ricky and his family
• Bit the bullet and booked in eyelash extensions and now I am very much addicted to them
• First spa experience at Rushton Hall, Northamptonshire
• Being nominated for a staff award at work
• Being promoted at work to the management team
• First city break with my boyfriend in Amsterdam and somehow managing to find the best deal ever 
• Common People Festival weekend with Snazaroo
• Improved my personal relationships
• Conquering my fear of adrenaline + water with the Seabreacher water experience; challenged by Red Letter Days
• Seeing James Bay at The Roundhouse again
• 1 Year anniversary with Ricky
• Bought a house together and made it feel like home
• Finding out I'm pregnant
• My grandad and sisters' reactions to telling them about our baby news
• Spending our first Christmas in our house and hosting 
• Our Gender reveal party with family
• Visiting the theatre regularly

Located close to Las Vegas in Arizona is the Grand Canyon National Park. With many immense view points of red and crumbling rock, it's one of the most surreal and beautiful landscapes to see in person.

There are many different options to choose from when visiting the Grand Canyon, so it is important to plan your trip way ahead so you can enhance your experience as much as possible.

If you are an adrenaline junkie, you may wish to book the South Rim Tour which has many exhilarating experiences such as helicopter rides, rafting, bikes and jeeps available. It's without a doubt the most craziest of the four different areas of the canyon to visit, so it's one you will only want to book up if you love heights, water and all the scary stuff!


Maybe you're more of a laid back person who enjoys slow walks and the chance to take some stunning photography. If so, the North Rim Tour has a much more limited approach when it comes to seeing the Canyon in all its glory. You can go on a self-guided hike tour with nothing but friends and a map to guide you from A to B and back again.

The West Canyon Tour is the most popular of four sections available in the Grand Canyon. Most people enjoy going on a Grand Canyon helicopter tour from Las Vegas to the Canyon or even a shorter ride around just the Canyon itself.

Head on over to Eagle Point and enjoy the best view of the Canyon on the Skywalk bridge. This is a 10 foot wide, horse shoe shaped bridge, extending out over 70ft of the rim and standing 4000ft high. It's definitely not one for the faint hearted, but it really is the best view to get of the entire West Grand Canyon.


Finally, you may wish to take a less exhilarating approach to visiting and prefer the East Canyon Tour. With plenty to see from the Horseshoe bend, Antelope Canyon and Little Colorado River; it's a day out in itself; packed full of things to see and do.

You may even wish to head down to Colarado River itself which offers plenty of different boat rides for you to sit back and enjoy whilst taking in all of the sights around and above you.

Which part of the Grand Canyon would you prefer to visit? I'd love to know below!

Disclaimer: In collaboration with Attraction-Tickets Direct. All words and opinions are my own.

Have you got any travel plans set in stone for 2019 yet? We definitely want a baby moon before the baby is here, so I'll be spending the next few weeks looking for the best city break deals. I am hoping the January sales has some fantastic offers!


The journey of entering the airport to arrival at your destination is either dreaded for some or the most exciting part of the holiday. Personally for me, I loved it when I was younger. There was something so thrilling about waking up at 3am to leave for the airport and then sitting around on the floors waiting for your boarding gate to open was even more exciting. However, I think the older you get the more you hate it; particularly because you're now the adult in charge.

It can be difficult to know what to and what not to pack; especially for a holiday longer than a week long. How much makeup to take? Do I need two cans of deodorant? Will I even stand to use hairspray in the Greek heat?!

Having read through Excess Baggage Company guidelines, I thought I would put together an up to date and very handy guide on all the things you are and aren't allowed to take onto a flight. There is nothing worse than having to throw things away at the security desk - particularly when you didn't realise your favourite dry shampoo was a 150ml bottle and it was packed tightly into your hand luggage so you could freshen up your hair on the plane. Damn.


In plain and simple terms, you need to check that all of your liquids are in containers with no more than 100ml per bottle. This includes cosmetics, sprays, lotions and creams. They all need to be placed into clear re-sealable plastic bags which are provided at the security desks.

Here's a handy checklist of things you may want to go through:

Small Tools - permitted with rules

You're allowed to pack screwdrivers, wrenches and pliers. However, they have to be seven inches or less in length. Any sharp tools should be wrapped tightly, packed into hand luggage and then declared at the security desk.

Non flammable liquids, gels and aerosols

Permitted as long as liquids/gels are in air tight containers/bottles and at 100ml or less. Baby formulas and insulin are an exception.

Lighters and matches

Allowed but should be packed into hand luggage only. Passengers are allowed to carry one lighter and one pack of matches.

Batteries

Should be packed into carry-on luggage only, not checked baggage.

Gifts

Wrapped gifts can be carried on board but will need to still be checked at the security desks. It is important to note that some wrapped gifts may be unwrapped to check its contents.

Electronics

Smaller electronics such as a standard size laptop, mobile phones and tablets can be kept in hand luggage and scanned. However, anything bigger such as bigger laptops, video game consoles and video cameras must be removed from their cases and checked separately at the security desks.

Medications

Prescription and over-the-counter medications can be carried in hand luggage without being checked for contents size. Any medications for disabled passengers or for medical or cosmetic reasons are subject to addition security screening, so must be declared at security checkpoints.

Baby Items

Any items relating to the feeding of a child (baby formula, breast milk, juice, gel/liquid teethers and canned or processed baby food) is allowed on board if a child is travelling only. However, these items still need to be scanned at the checkpoints.

Alcohol

Passengers are allowed to pack up to five litres of alcohol beverages in a sealable bottle or flask - but the alcohol content must not exceed 70%.

Sharp Objects

Box cutters, knives, razor blades and scissors can be put into hand luggage (but declared and checked), but are not to exceed four inches in size.

I think a lot of these items do come down to common sense, but it is still good to know what you need to declare at the security desks to prevent any embarrassment!

Are you jetting off anywhere in 2019? I'd love some travel destination ideas!

Disclaimer: In collaboration with Excess Baggage Company. All words/views are my own.